Shipping and dispensing carton



July 27, 1954 4. w. KRAU 2 684,79

SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTON Filed April 1, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l J y 7, 1954 J. w. KRAUS 2,684,792

SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTON Filed April 1 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN H, K Q/WS Patented July 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTON John W. Kraus, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application April 1, 1950, Serial No. 153,389

This invention relates to shipping and dispensing cartons, containers and the like and more particularly to cartons adapted for shipping and dispensing small articles such as, for example, nuts, bolts, fittings and the like.

In manufacturing establishments where small articles such as nuts, bolts, fittings and small parts are required in assembly operations it is customary to remove the articles from the container in which they are shipped into the factory and place them in boxes or bins at each workmans bench or in a stock or store room if used in small unit quantities. This procedure requires the construction of boxes or bins at the benches or stock or store room or the use of makeshift devices, and is unsatisfactory because parts may be lost or damaged While they are being transferred from their original cartons to the bins; furthermore, parts of different sizes may become intermingled and ordinarily the bins or boxes containing the parts on the workmans desk are not properly labeled.

According to the present invention, the abovenoted diificulties are overcome by the provision of a shipping carton or container which may also be used on the workmans bench or in stock or store rooms or elsewhere as a dispensing bin or hopper thus making it unnecessary to provide special bins or boxes, keeping the parts clean and in proper order and providing convenient bins for the parts which are identified by the labels appearing on the cartons.

The general object of the present invention is the provisions of a shipping and dispensing container, carton or the like which provides a sturdy package for the parts during shipment and a convenient dispensing hopper or bin thereafter. Another object is the provision of such a carton or container which can be manufactured economically of conventional materials such as corrugated paper and the like.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred forms thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is perspective of a corrugated paper carton made according to the invention and showing the carton in the position it takes when in use on a workmans bench; Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the end of the carton of Figure 1 showing the carton closed as it is during shipment; Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the carton I Figure 4 is a plan view of the blank employed in producing the carton in Figure 1; Figure 5 is an exploded perspective 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-457) view of th parts making up a modified form of the carton; Figure 6 illustrates the carton of Figure 5 in closed position, parts being broken away for convenience of illustration; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the carton of Figures 5 and 6 in position for use; Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of the hopper portion of the carton of Figure 7 and Figure 9 is a plan view of the blanks utilized in making the hopper portion shown in Figure 8.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings a preferred form of carton embodying my invention is indicated in general at Hi. This comprises a corrugated paper carton which may be of conventional construction except for the front end where the dispensing hopper is located. The carton H) has a top wall I I, side walls i2 and I3, a bottom wall M and a rear end wall made up of flaps i5, 16, ll and I8 (see Figures 3 and 4). The sides and rear of the carton may be reinforced with conventional paper tape reinforce ments 2d and 2| if desired, or any other ordinary method of closure may be used.

At the front end of the carton, the construction of the top half may be conventional including a flap 22 formed integrally with the top wall II; flap 22 is folded over the end of the carton and overlies the end flaps 23 and 24 which are formed integrally with the side walls l2 and I3 respectively. However, in order to provide a hopper or bin-like opening giving ready access to the articles within the carton when the carton is opened and positioned as shown in Figure l, the construction of the lower half of the front end of the carton is arranged to provide the hinged hopper flap 25 and Wings 26 and 2'! which define a hopper or bin when in open position.

- In order to provide the hopper without requiring the use of any additional stock in making the carton, the bottom wall panel I 4 of the blank extends forwardly as shown in Figure 4, terminating in the hopper flap 25 which is preferably of such size as to cover half of the end of the carton when the carton is closed, forming with the flap 22 a complete closure. Formed integrally with the hopper flap 25 are wings or side flanges 26 and 21. It will be noted that the blank is severed as indicated at 28 and 29 so that these wings or side flanges are separated from the side panels l2 and i3 and the flaps 23 and 24. In the assembled carton, wings are folded upwardly to lie at right angles to the flap 25 and parallel to the side walls 12 and I3; thus, the wings constitute the sides of the hopper provided by the flap 25.

In order to permit the hopper to be opened and closed readily and to retain the hopper flap in an upwardly slanting position as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the edges of the wings 28 and 2'! are out in arcuate form as shown at 3! and 32 respectively, the arcs being struck about the intersections of the score line 33 and the score lines 3 3 and 35 respectively. The arcs terminate in radially extending stop portions 35 and 3'! respectively; these stops engage the inner surface of the flaps 23 and 2 as shown in Figures 1 and 3 to limit the outward swinging movement of the hopper flap 2%.

When the hopper flap 25 is opened and the carton properly positioned, a number of the articles contained in the carton tumble into the hopper where they are readily accessible. The articles feed in to the hopper automatically to replenish those Withdrawn therefrom and ordinarily there is no overflowing of articles from the hopper. There is no difficulty in emptying the carton completely because the hopper openlIlg extends from side Wall to side wall of the carton and there are no shoulders or obstructions to trap articles within the carton. The

hopper opening is shown as extending half way from bottom to top across the end of the carton in the drawings. Thisis the most economical arrangement because the flaps 22 and 25 are of the same lenegth and there is no waste of material. However, for some purposes and for handling articles of various types it may be desirable to make the flaps 22 and 25 of unequal length thereby to either increase or decrease the size of the hopper as may be required. The carton maybe initially filled from'the rear end. and thereafter sealed.

It will be noted that when the carton is in closed position as shown in Figure 2, the wings 25 and 2! lie fiat along the interior ofthe walls 32 and i3 and thus do not materially reduce the capacity of the carton. The flap 25 completes the closure of the carton which may be sealed by a strip of paper reinforcing tape 39 if desired. In order to open the carton it is only necessary to slit the tape 39 at the center of the carton and swing the flap 25 outwardly and downwardly until further movement is arrested by the engagement of the stops 36 and 3'! with the flaps 23 and 24. Thus when a workman needs a new supply of a given part it is only necessary to deliver a sealed cartonof the parts to him. He thereupon places the carton in a convenient position upon his bench and opens it. The parts are then readily accessible to him,

no parts have been lost and the parts are as clean as they were when they were shipped by the manufacturer. Ordinarily shipping cartons are labeled as indicated at it, for example, to show their contents; such labels remain on the cartons, thus identifying the parts at all times. Instructions for opening the carton' may be printed directly on the carton.

In Figures 5 to 9 of the drawings anadaptation of the invention to a conventional carton is shown. Here the carton 65 may be of any conventional construction while the hopper is provided by a separately formed hopper member indicated in general at 46. The carton proper is made up of top, side and bottom walls 41,43, it and 50, a rear end wall 5| composed of flaps in the usual manner and a frontend wallmade up of flaps 52, 53, 54 and 55. The hoppermember 46 fits snugly within the front portion-of the carton adjacent the front end wall and: is

tape 64 or by stitching or gluing. The bottom wall 63 has an integrally formed hopper flap 65 which corresponds to the flap 25 previously described. Wings 65 and 61 are joined to the ends of flap and have arcuate portions 63 and 69 and stop portions '10 and H, the wings being constructed in the same manner as wings 26 and 21 previously described.

In order to provide stops for engagement by the stops l6 and H the top wall 66 of the body or the hopper member has a front flap 12 formed integrally therewith, the flap '12 having wings i3 and M on either end thereof. These wings are adapted to be folded alon score lines i5 and Hi so that the wings can extend rearwardly along the side walls 6! and 62 as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the wings being disposed between the side walls 5| and 62 of the hopper member and the side walls 58 and d9 of the carton when the parts are assembled. Score lines 15 and 75 are disposed outwardly of the edge is of the top wall and the score line it so that the wings l3 and it will be properly positioned when the parts are assembled.

Flaps 8 ,3 and ti extend from the side walls 6! and {52 of the hopper member and the flap is preferably stapled to flaps 8G and ti by staples 82 thus holding the parts of the hopper member in assembled position as shown in Figure 5. Flap SI may be cut away as shown in Figure 9 to provide material for the wing 13 of an adjacent blank.

It will be noted that when the hopper member at is telescoped into the carton the wings 6S and E? are disposed between the side walls BI and $2 of the hopper member and the side walls 48 and t9 just as the flaps l3 and It are. Thus the wings operate in the slot provided by the telescoping side walls. The radial stop portions '59 and H of the wings 6S and iii engage the wings or flaps l3 and M to limit the outward movement of the hopper G5. Inasmuch as the wings 6B and El are disposed between the side walls of the hopper and the carton the wings are protected from contact with the articleswithin the carton; thus with this form of the invention the hopper'can be opened and closed repeatedly without damageto the wings by reason of engagement with the articles within the carton.

In use of this type of carton embodying my invention the carton is filled from the rear end with the hopper member in. place and sealed. When the carton reaches the workmans bench he merely opens the front end of the carton in the usual manner by slitting the tape 83 and opening the flaps 52, 53, 5t and 55 or by cutting the sealed end off entirely close to the scores between nil, it, t9 and El] and E2, 53, 5s and 55 respectively. Then it is only necessary for the operator to open the hopper member t5 whereupon the articles within the carton become readily accessible as in the previously described form of the invention.

This type of carton is stronger than the previously described modification because of its doublesendconstruction and has a further advantage in that it can be repeatedly opened and closed without damage to the side flaps of the hopper. It is obviously slightly more expensive than the previously described form of invention.

From the foregoing description of the preferred forms of my invention it will be seen that I have provided shipping and dispensing cartons or containers that are capable of manufacture at reasonable cost and which provide important advantages in use. My cartons are essentially shipping containers in which no appreciable amount of space is lost by reason of the hopper construction and yet they provide convenient hoppers for dispensing and supplying articles where required. By the use of my cartons the necessity of special bins or hoppers at workmens benches or elsewhere is prevented, intermingling of parts of different sizes is prevented, loss of parts is prevented and the parts are kept clean and in good condition.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made in the invention without departing from the scope thereof. For example, changes may be made in design and proportions of the cartons to suit various purposes, and materials other than the corrugated paper illustrated herein may be employed in the manufacture of the cartons. It is therefore to be understood that my invention is not limited to the preferred forms described herein and that the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination, a carton having side, top, bottom and end walls and a hopper member disposed within the carton adjacent one end thereof, said hopper member comprising a body portion having side, top and bottom walls and having an open end and a closed end, the top and bottom walls of the hopper member engaging the top and bottom walls of the carton, the side walls of the hopper member being parallel to and spaced inwardly from the side Walls of the carton, the closed end of the hopper member lying adjacent one end of the carton and comprising a hopper flap hinged to the bottom Wall of the hopper member and adapted to close substantially half the end of the hopper member when in closed position, wings on the ends of the hopper flap disposed at right angles thereto and lying between the side walls of the carton and the side Walls of the hopper member, an end flap for closing the other half of the end of the hopper member, and wings on the ends of said end flap extending into the space between the side walls of the hopper member and the side walls of the carton and disposed above the wings on the hopper flap, said hopper flap being adapted to be swung outwardly when said carton is open to provide a hopper for articles in the carton, the wings on the hopper flap constituting sides of the hopper and the wings on the hopper flap and the wings on the end flap having interengaging parts adapted to limit outward movement of the hopper flap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 919,838 Eaton Apr. 27, 1909 2,030,134v Burgener Feb. 11, 1936 2,089,510 Taylor Aug. 10, 1937 2,233,488 Powell Mar. 4, 1941 2,368,864 Molet Feb. 6, 1945 2,556,661 Rendall et a1 June 12, 1951 

